Prompt Proofing Blog Post: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips

VANCOUVER, BC, March 16, 2012 — A large part of Prompt Proofing’s business consists of writing press releases and articles or writing blog posts designed primarily for SEO. We generally advise clients that frequently updated content helps search engine rankings – therefore publishing a blog, for example, and updating it regularly, will help direct traffic to your site. This is true. Putting out regular press releases will also help. Some customers, however, have budgets that only allow for occasional press releases and they understandably wish to obtain the best SEO results from perhaps one press release or article.

What you are trying to achieve, when selecting keywords and phrases for SEO, is to direct traffic to your website. It is therefore useful to put yourself in a potential customer’s shoes. If you were looking for the service or product that your company provides, what terms would you type into a search engine? List the terms you think are most likely, or possibly ask a friend to do this for you. Keywords can work but phrases of two to four words are even better.

Imagine you are looking for someone to paint your house; if you simply search “painters” you are likely to find long lists of artists. Selecting “house painters” will get you more relevant results. Location is key for any physical, location-dependent business. If you live in Denver then you might search for “house painters in Denver”. If you actually have a house painting business in Denver, then this would clearly be an effective key phrase. Perhaps you also specialize in low-VOC paints; in this case again, you have a clear key phrase. Ensure that each press release/blog post or article, includes the linked key phrases “house painters in Denver”, “low-VOC paints” or possibly “environmentally-friendly painters” or “organic-compound painters”.

Similarly, if you run a vegan restaurant in Tucson then “vegan restaurants” or even better “vegan restaurants in Tucson” or possibly “Tucson vegan restaurants” are likely to be effective key phrases. If your business is not location dependent then focus more on different terms that customers might use in a search. If you offer web design online then key phrases would be “web design”, “web designers”, “online web designers” or “website designers”. You can, in all likelihood, include all four likely variants in each blog post or press release that you publish.

Whatever you do, introduce your chosen key phrases as naturally as possible. Some businesses make the mistake of stringing together keywords and key phrases in almost meaningless prose. This will lose you readers and may well result in your being reported for spamming, which could mean that Google bans all your future writing efforts! Ideally, around four linked keywords or key phrases in a 200-300 word press release, for example, is an acceptable number. Each word or phrase should be surrounded by formatting code or HTML code to create a link to your website.

About Prompt Proofing

Prompt Proofing is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and was officially launched in 2010 by a team of editing and writing professionals who have over 40 years of experience in the education, news media, public relations and recruitment fields. Prompt Proofing prides itself on affordable services delivered with fast turnaround times, without sacrificing quality or accuracy.